Water purifying apparatus

ABSTRACT

A water purifying cartridge including a double structure container having an outer container and an inner cylinder disposed within the outer container, an inlet port for flowing water into an external space defined by the outer container and the inner cylinder, and an outlet port for discharging water from the internal space formed within the inner cylinder, the external space and the internal space communicating with each other through a water channel formed in the inner cylinder and separated by a filter, the external space being filled with activated carbon and the internal space being loaded with separation- and filtration membranes, whereby water flowed into the external space from the raw water supplying portion via the inlet port being arranged to pass through the activated carbon, then introduced into the internal space via the water channel, then purified during the passage through the separation- and filtration membranes, and then discharged from the purified water outlet portion via the outlet port.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a novel water purifying cartridge, a waterpurifying apparatus using the water purifying cartridge, which ismounted on a cock of water pipe in order to purify raw water, and awater purifying apparatus including a mechanism for preventing theinflow of a hot water.

PRIOR ART

In recent years, pollution of service water, etc. caused by variouskinds of organics and inorganics is becoming a serious problem. Manycauses can be considered for it, such as for example, increasedpollution of the source of public water supply, deterioration of watersupply tanks and water piping which can be observed in tall houses,high-rise buildings, etc. Reflecting such situation, in order to obtaintasty and safe water, various kinds of small-sized water purifyingapparatus are used in general at home, office, restaurant, etc., ashandy service water processing devices.

The service water processing devices usually include a water processingmaterial or materials such as activated carbon, ion exchange resin,separation- and filtration membranes, and owing to these service waterprocessing materials, there can be obtained such processing function ofservice water as deodorization, cleaning, removal of bacteria, softeningof water, etc.

The service water processing device (water purifying apparatus) of thetype mentioned above is required to be periodically exchanged in orderto maintain its processing performance in a high level for a long time.As a water purifying apparatus which can be easily exchanged, there areknown, among others, ones in which the processing material itself iscontained in a cartridge (Japanese Patent Early Laid-open PublicationNo. Sho 59-76514, Japanese Patent Early Laid-open Publication No. Sho60-190206, Japanese Utility Model Early Laid-open Publication No. Sho49-127053, Japanese Utility Model Early Laid-open Publication No. Sho55-167412, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. Sho 57-60880, etc.).

One known example of the above-mentioned purifying apparatus is a cockmount type purifying apparatus in which the apparatus body itself isdirectly mounted on a cock (service water pipe) through an arm-likewater inlet member adapted to introduce a raw water into the apparatusfrom a water service supply.

Such generally used water purifying apparatus is, in some cases, mountedon a cock which can supply both cool and hot water.

However, since the cock is usually located at an upper position of asink (a basin or receptacle in a kitchen, connected with a water supplyand a drainpipe), an upper space, particularly a generally centralportion at that, is occupied by the body of the water purifyingapparatus. This is inconvenient, indeed, for housewives, etc. who areusually required to do such daily work as washing plates, dishes, cups,knives and forks, etc. in the sink.

Further, since there is no consideration given to the conventional waterpurifying apparatus for preventing the inflow of a hot water, itinvolves such problems as that a hot water flows into the body of thewater purifying apparatus when a hot water cock is opened by mistake andas a result, residual chlorines, micro-organics, hardness components,etc. contained in a service water which were once attracted to anactivated carbon, for example, is removed therefrom and eluted to thepurified water side with the result that the purified water presentsunfavorable smell and taste. At the same time, it causes deteriorationof separation- and filtration membranes such as hollow fiber filtrationmembranes. This gives rise to another problem that the time required forexchanging the water purifying cartridge is shortened.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, an improved waterpurifying cartridge is demanded.

It is therefore a first object of the present invention to provide animproved water purifying cartridge, i.e., a water purifying cartridgewhich is compact, excellent in water purifying ability and easy to beexchanged.

A second object of the present invention is to provide a cock mount typewater purifying apparatus which does not become an obstacle when dailywork is carried out in the sink and which also makes it possible to usefor the original purpose of providing service water.

A third object of the present invention is to provide a water purifyingapparatus which is capable of preventing hot water from flowing into thebody thereof even if it occurs such an incident as that a hot water isintroduced into the water purifying apparatus by mistake.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has achieved the first object by providing a waterpurifying cartridge which will be described next.

A water purifying cartridge characterized in that it includes a doublestructure container having an outer container and an inner cylinderdisposed within the outer container, an inlet port through which waterflows into an external space defined by the outer container and theinner cylinder, and an outlet port through which water flows out of aninternal space located at an inner side of the inner cylinder, theexternal and internal spaces being communicated with each other througha water channel formed in the inner cylinder and separated through afilter, the external space being filled with activated carbon and theinternal space being loaded with separation- and filtration membranes,

water flowed into the external space through the inlet port beingarranged to pass through the activated carbon, then introduced into theinternal space through the water channel, then purified during thepassage through the separation- and filtration membranes, and thendischarged through the outlet port.

Further, the present invention has achieved the second object byproviding a water purifying apparatus which will be described next.

A water purifying apparatus comprising a block base having a raw watersupplying portion and a purified water discharging portion, and a waterpurifying cartridge removably mounted on the block base,

the water purifying apparatus being characterized in that the block baseis connected with an arm-like water inlet member having a service waterpipe connector portion, the raw water supplying portion being providedwith a passage adapted to supply a service water to the original watersupplying portion and a raw water outlet portion, both the passage andthe raw water outlet portion being communicated with the service waterpipe connector portion, the stream being switchable toward selected oneof them by a switch valve.

Further, the present invention has achieved the third object byproviding a water purifying apparatus which will be described next.

A water purifying apparatus characterized in that a block base having araw water supplying portion and a purified water outlet portion isprovided with a water purifying cartridge removably mounted thereon andwith a hot water prevention mechanism for preventing the inflow of hotwater into the water purifying cartridge.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing the outline of one embodiment of thepresent invention in which a water purifying cartridge according to oneembodiment of the present invention is used,

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a filter guard used in the water purifyingapparatus,

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the filter guard of FIG. 2,

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the outline of the water purifyingapparatus,

FIG. 5 is a sectional view, corresponding to FIG. 1, showing the outletof a water purifying apparatus according to another embodiment of thepresent invention,

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view for explaining a hot waterprevention mechanism which is applied to the water purifying apparatus,

FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing another hot water preventing valvebody,

FIG. 8 is a sectional view, corresponding to FIG. 1, showing the outletof a water purifying apparatus according to a partly modified embodimentof the present invention, and

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing the outline of a water purifyingapparatus shown in FIG. 8.

BEST MODE FOR PRACTICING THE INVENTION

One embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail withreference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing the outline of a water purifyingapparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention. Thewater purifying apparatus according to this embodiment is a cock mounttype water purifying apparatus in which the body thereof is comprised ofa water purifying cartridge 1 and a block base 2 mounted thereon, theblock base 2 being connected with an arm-like water inlet member 3 andalso with a cock (service water pipe) 4 at a service water pipeconnector portion 31 disposed in the vicinity of one end portion of thewater inlet member 3. This connection can be realized by means of directscrew engagement using, for example, a cock joint comprising a unionjoint, etc. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the water purifyingapparatus in a way more easily understood.

First, the water inlet member will be described.

The water inlet member 3 is formed of a cylindrical body having apassage 32 formed therein and adapted to supply raw water to the body ofthe water purifying apparatus. The water inlet member 3 is provided atan upper portion in the vicinity of one end thereof with the servicewater pipe connector portion 31 with which the cock is connected bymeans of screw engagement as described above.

Further, the water inlet portion 3 is provided with a raw water outletportion 33 at a lower portion thereof and under the service water pipeconnector portion 31, so that the stream from the service water pipe canbe switched either to the direction of the passage 32 or to thedirection of the raw water outlet portion 33 by a switch valve disposedtherebetween. The raw water outlet portion 33 is preferably connectedwith a discharge pipe 34 in the manner as shown by an imaginary line.

The switch valve includes a valve body 35 and a valve seat 36, and a gapformed between the valve body 35 and the valve seat 36 can be adjustedby rotating a handle 37 mounted on one edge thereof. The valve body 35is crowned with a rubber member 38.

Next, the water purifying cartridge 1 and the block base 2, whichconstitute the body of the water purifying apparatus of this embodimentwill be described in detail. The water purifying cartridge 1 isremovably mounted on the block base 2.

The water purifying cartridge 1 has a double structure container portioncomprising a cylindrical outer container 101 and a circular cylinder 102concentrically arranged within the container 101 in section, an upperend of the inner cylinder 102 being intimately engaged with the outercontainer 101 by O-ring, heat sealing, or the like. Further, the waterpurifying apparatus has an inlet port 104 through which water flows intoan external space 103 defined by the outer container 101 and the innercylinder 102, and an outlet port 106 through which water flows out of aninternal space 105 defined within the inner cylinder 102.

The external space 103 and the internal space 105 are communicated witheach other through water channels 107 formed at four places of the innercylinder 102 so that water can flow into the internal space 105. At thesame time, the spaces 103 and 105 are separated through a second filter108, so that the adjacent activated carbon 109 does not enter into theinternal space 105. The external space 103 is filled with the activatedcarbon 109, and the internal space 105 is loaded with separation- andfiltration membranes 110, to thereby constitute the water purifyingcartridge 1 in this embodiment.

Further, formed on the block base 2 are a raw water supplying portion 21for supplying a raw water into the inlet port 104, and a purified wateroutlet portion 22 for discharging a purified water coming from theoutlet port 106. The raw water supplying portion 21 is connected withthe water inlet member 3 in such a way that one end of the member 3 isengaged with the former. The purified water outlet portion 22 isintimately engaged with the outlet port 106 through an O-ring woundaround the outlet port, and the purified water outlet portion 22 isrotatably connected with a Z-shaped discharge pipe 23.

Next, operation of this embodiment will be described. In the drawings,the flow of water is indicated by arrows.

The flow of raw water (service water) is switched toward the passage 32side, i.e., the body side of the water purifying apparatus by openingthe water plug and rotating the handle 37. As a result, raw water can besent to the raw water supplying portion 21. Thereafter, the water, whichhas been flowed into the external space 103 from the raw water supplyingportion 21 via the inlet port 104, passes through the activated carbon109, then it is introduced into the internal space 105 via the waterchannels 107, purified during the passage through the separation- andfiltration membranes 110, and discharged from the purified water outletportion 22 via the outlet port 106. As a result, the raw water isthoroughly purified, and such purified water can be taken off thedischarge pipe 23 so as to be used for drinking, etc.

In this way, after the finish of using the purifying apparatus, thehandle 37 is rotated in the reverse direction in order to switch thestream toward the raw water outlet portion 33 side, and the water inletmember 3 is rotated to, for example, one corner of a sink where it doesnot disturb the use of the sink. By this, the large space of the sinkcan be obtained and it can also readily be used as a normal servicewater supply.

Subsequently, the water purifying apparatus of this embodiment will bedescribed in more detail.

In the water purifying cartridge, a first filter 113 clamped between andfixed by a filter guard 111 located in an upper position and a mountseat 112 located in a lower position, is vertically attached to a lowerend of the external space 103 relative to the center axis of the innercylinder 102, so that it fulfills its role for preventing foreignmatters such as iron rust, etc. from entering into the external space103 and for confining the activated carbon 109 in the external space103.

The filter guard 111 is a member having a plan structure shown in FIG. 2and having a sectional structure shown in FIG. 3. The filter guard 111is provided with hole portions 114 equally arranged in an innerperiphery thereof and adapted to guide a raw water entered therein fromthe inlet portion 104 formed on the mount seat 112 to the first filter113.

The second filter 108 is disposed over a wide range exceeding the areawhere the water channels 107 are formed and wound on the entirety of theouter periphery of the inner cylinder 102. The outer peripheral wall ofthe inner cylinder 102 on which the second filter 108 is wound, isformed in such a manner as to be lower than the adhered outer peripheralsurface portion by one step, and a water pocket 115 comprising a narrowgap is formed between the outer peripheral wall and the inner surface ofthe second filter 108. As a result, the filtration area of the secondfilter 108 can be increased and its processing performance is enhanced.

The first and second filters 113 and 108 are preferably formed of aporous material having a pore size of 0.5 to 5μ, for example.Concretely, filters formed of a non-woven material composed of asynthetic high polymer compound such as, polyolefin, polyester,polyvinylalcohol, etc., cotton and cellulose are used.

The activated carbon 109, which is filled in the above-mentioned outerspace 103, acts to remove substance having unfavorable smell or tastesuch as residual chlorines, trace of organic compounds, hardnesscomponents, etc. contained in a raw water (concretely, ion such assodium, calcium, magnesium, iron, etc. Water containing a large quantityof such ion is not tasty). The average grain size of the activatedcarbon used in the present invention is preferably 5 to 100 meshes, andmore preferably 8 to 60 meshes. For the purpose mentioned above, thematerial filled in the outer space 103 is not necessarily limited toactivated carbon, but an attractive material such as ion exchangeresins, chelate resins, zeolite, etc. may be jointly used.

The separation- and filtration membranes 110 loaded in the inner space105 act to remove and purify micro-floating substance such as ironcolloid, dust, bacteria, etc. by pores formed in the wall portion of theseparation- and filtration membranes 110 by permeating the water passedthrough the activated carbon 109 to transmit through the separation- andfiltration membranes 110.

The separation- and filtration membranes 110 in this embodiment arecomprised of a hollow fiber bundle which is formed of a bundle of aplurality of porous hollow fiber filtration membranes. The hollow fiberbundle are designed such that both ends of the porous hollow fiberfiltration membranes are bent in such a manner as to form a U-shapedloop at an upper portion thereof. They are bundled and fixed by atubular plate 116 formed of resin located at a lower end portion thereofand both ends of the porous hollow fiber filtration membranes are openedat a lower surface portion of the tubular plate 116. However, the hollowfiber bundle is not limited to the one in which the porous hollow fiberfiltration membranes are bent at upper end portions thereof in a U-shapeas mentioned above, but it may be of such construction so that the upperportion is hardened with resin and sealed.

The porous hollow fiber filtration membranes to be applied to the hollowfiber bundle are preferably 30 to 200μ in membrane thickness and morepreferably 30 to 150μ. Further, the average pore size of the pores, whenmeasured by a mercury porosimeter, is preferably 0.05 to 5μ and morepreferably 0.1 to 2μ. In addition, the vacancy percentage is preferably20 to 90 volume % and more preferably 50 to 80 volume %. Concretely,there can be listed porous hollow fiber filtration membranes such aspolyolefin series, polysulfine series, polyvinylalcohol series,cellulose series, poly methyl methacrylate series. The separation-andfiltration membranes loaded in the inner cylinder 102 are not limited tothe porous hollow fiber filtration membranes, and it goes without sayingthat porous flat membranes, etc. may be used.

Also, in this embodiment, both of the inlet port 104 and the outlet port106 are located in the vicinity of a lower end of the water purifyingcartridge, while the water channels 107 are located in the vicinity ofan upper end of the water purifying cartridge 1. Accordingly, althoughthe water purifying cartridge 1 is formed in a compact parallelstructure comprising a double structure located on a concentric circlein its section, the activated carbon 109 and the separation- andfiltration membranes 110 are arranged in series relative to the stream.In addition, both of them have a long passage length and can be fullycontacted with water. Therefore, the purifying performance which boththe activated carbon 109 and the separation- and filtration membranes110 originally have, can be fully exhibited.

The water purifying cartridge 1 is removably engaged with a threadedlyengaging portion 24 formed on an upper end portion thereof and caneasily be exchanged by rotating the water purifying cartridge 1.However, the method for attaching the water purifying cartridge 1 is notlimited to the thread engagement.

Further, the water purifying cartridge 1 is provided at a wall surfaceof its upper portion with an air-extracting mechanism 117 communicatingwith the inner space 105. This air-extracting mechanism 117 is adaptedto rapidly and easily discharge air in the water purifying cartridge 1when the raw water is introduced to the raw water processing portionconstituted by the activated carbon 109, etc. from the inlet port 104.An actual air-extraction may be performed by various methods, such asattaching hydrophobic membranes which permit air to transmittherethrough but prohibit raw water to transmit therethrough to anair-extracting mouth of the air-extracting mechanism 117, or opening theair-extracting mouth by contacting a screw or opening the air-extractingmouth by pushing with a hand.

The various members constituting the water purifying apparatus,excepting the activated carbon 109 and the separation- and filtrationmembranes 110, are not particularly limited. For example, they arepreferably made from metal such as stainless steel, copper, aluminum,etc. or alloy thereof, or plastics such as ABS resin, polycarbonateresin, etc.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing the outline of another embodiment ofthe present invention. This embodiment is constructed in the same way asthe embodiment shown in FIG. 1 except that the hot water preventionmechanism for preventing a hot water from entering into the waterpurifying cartridge is disposed within the water inlet member 3.Accordingly, with respect to the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, there willbe described only the structure, operation and effect of the hot waterprevention mechanism. In FIGS. 5 and 6, the reference numerals 301 to308 denote identical members (portions) which are denoted by thereference numerals 31 to 38, respectively.

The hot water prevention mechanism in the embodiment shown in FIG. 5 isdisposed on the body side of the water purifying apparatus in such amanner as to be adjacent to a switch valve including a valve body 305and a valve seat 306, as in the switch valve of the embodiment shown inFIG. 1. This hot water prevention mechanism includes a hot waterpreventing valve body 309 disposed in the opposite direction to thevalve body 305, a supporting member 310 having a central hole throughwhich a valve shaft thereof penetrates and four claw portions arrangedtherearound, and a coil-like shape memory alloy 311 disposed between thesupporting member 310 and the hot water preventing valve body 309 andwound on the valve shaft. Further, the hot water preventing valve body309 is crowned with a rubber member 308.

In order to facilitate an easier understanding of the structures of theswitch valve and the hot water prevention mechanism, the explodedperspective view of FIG. 6 shows members located within the water inletmember 3 and constituting the switch valve and hot water preventionmechanism.

Next, operation of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 will bedescribed. In FIGS. 5 and 6, the flow of water is indicated by arrows.

By opening the water supply plug and rotating a handle 307 for switchingthe flow of raw water (service water) to a passage 302 side, i.e., bodyside of the water purifying apparatus, raw water can be sent to the rawwater supplying portion 21. It goes without saying that a gap is formedbetween the hot water preventing valve body 309 and the valve seat 306at that time. The flow of water after that time is the same as in theembodiment shown in FIG. 1.

In the event a hot water flows into the water inlet member 3 by mistakewhen the water purifying apparatus is used in the manner as mentionedabove, the hot water preventing valve body 309 is driven in theright-hand direction in the drawings by the shape memory alloy 311 assoon as the hot water contacts the alloy 311. As a result, since the gapbetween the hot water preventing valve body 309 and the valve seat 306is blocked, further inflow of the hot water is prevented. Accordingly,the hot water is effectively prevented from flowing into the body of thewater purifying apparatus. FIG. 5 shows a state after the hot waterprevention mechanism has been activated.

In order to restore the original usable state after the hot waterprevention mechanism has been activated as mentioned above, a gap isformed again between the hot water preventing valve body 309 and thevalve seat 306 after the hot water is cooled. However, it is not limitedto this method. It is also possible to employ such a method as that onehaving a projecting portion 312 as shown in FIG. 7 is used as the valvebody 305 of the switch valve, and the valve body 305 is pushed in, sothat the hot water preventing valve body 309 is forced backward by theprojecting portion 312 in order to form a gap between the hot waterpreventing valve body 309 and the valve seat 306.

Further, a careful consideration should be given so that a hot waterhigher than 60° C. does not flow into the water purifying cartridge 1.The mechanism for preventing the inflow of a hot water is actuated whenthe temperature of a raw water flowed into this mechanism is raised toabout 40° C. and completely stops activation when the temperature of theraw water flowed into this mechanism reaches 60° C.

In the embodiment of FIG. 5, other constitutions and operations thanthose described above are the same as in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1.

The hot water prevention mechanism in this embodiment also acts as acheck valve when a low temperature water is used. That is, in case a lowtemperature water flows into the mechanism, since the proof stress ofthe shape memory alloy is weak, the shape memory alloy, when in use, ispushed back by the hydraulic pressure of the low temperature waterflowed therein. However, when the pressure is reduced on the servicewater pipe side, the hot water preventing valve body 309 is urged towardthe valve seat 306 and the gap formed therebetween is blocked therewith.In this sense, the hot water prevention mechanism also acts as a checkvalve.

Although the present invention has been described in detail withreference to several embodiments, it goes without saying that a waterpurifying apparatus of the present invention is not limited to theembodiments exemplified above.

For example, the water inlet member can be changed in various ways aslong as it is an arm-like cylindrical body including an optional streamswitching means.

A check valve adapted to prevent water from flowing back from the waterpurifying cartridge may be provided in a proper position, for instance,the raw water supplying portion of the block base.

The concrete structure of the block base can be changed in many ways aslong as it includes a raw water supplying portion for flowing a rawwater into the inlet port of the water purifying cartridge, and apurified water outlet portion adapted to discharge a purified watercoming from the outlet port of the water purifying cartridge. Also, itgoes without saying that the configuration of the discharge pipeconnected with the purified water outlet portion can be changed.

Further, the hot water prevention mechanism is not necessarily limitedto the hot water prevention mechanism including, for example, acoil-like member formed of a shape memory alloy, but it may be of astructure using a bimetal, an oil element, etc. However, when suchfactors as compactness and handiness of the water purifying apparatusare taken into consideration, the use of the hot water preventing valvebody is more preferable than the use of the mechanism using a bimetal,an oil element, etc. Similarly, the installing position of the hot waterprevention mechanism is not particularly limited to that of theembodiment but it may be within the block base as long as it is aposition able to substantially prevent the inflow of a hot water intothe purified water cartridge.

Further, although a cock mount type water purifying apparatus has beenexemplified above, it goes without saying that the present invention maybe applied to a floor type water purifying apparatus which is connectedwith a cock through a hose as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9.

The different part of the floor type water purifying apparatus shown inFIGS. 8 and 9 from that of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 5 will bedescribed briefly. In FIGS. 8 and 9, all the reference numeralsexcepting those attached with ' denote identical members (portions) asdenoted by the respective reference numerals in FIG. 1.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view showing the outline of a floor type waterpurifying device as one example of a partly modified embodiment of thepresent invention, and FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing the waterpurifying device in a way more easy to understand, in which the blockbase 2' is of a floor type, the raw water supplying portion 21' beingconnected with one end of a hose 31' the other end of which is connectedwith a connector member 3' served to be connected with the water cock 4and provided with a check valve 23' for preventing the back flow ofwater toward the hose 31' side from the water purifying device. Further,the purified water outlet portion 22 is intimately engaged with theoutlet port 106 through an O-ring wound on the periphery of the outletport, and the purified water outlet portion 22 is rotatably connectedwith an S-shaped discharge pipe 24'. The connector member 3' attached tothe hose 31' is provided with a switch lever 2' adapted to switch theflow of the raw water toward selected one of the hose 31' side and thedownward direction (see arrows) in the drawings.

POSSIBILITY OF INDUSTRIAL UTILIZATION

A water purifying cartridge of the present invention is compact,excellent in water purifying performance and easy to exchange.

Further, the water purifying apparatus of the present invention is of acock mount type, it can be used in a desired position in the sink, andcan be moved toward a corner, etc. of a sink where it does not disturbthe washing work, etc. when the apparatus is not in use, so that it canbe used for providing a normal service water supply.

Furthermore, since the water purifying apparatus of the presentinvention including a hot water prevention mechanism can prevent theinflow of a hot water into the body thereof, even if it occurs such anincident as that a hot water is introduced into the water purifyingapparatus, there can be normally obtained a purified water, anddeterioration of the processing material and an occurrence of trouble,etc. caused by hot water can be prevented beforehand.

We claim:
 1. A water purifying cartridge comprising a double structurecontainer having an outer container and an inner cylinder disposedwithin said outer container, an inlet port through which water flowsinto an external space defined by said outer container and said innercylinder, and an outlet port through which water flows out of aninternal space located at an inner side of said inner cylinder, saidexternal and internal spaces being in communication with each other viaa water channel formed in said inner cylinder and separated through afilter,said filter being wound on an outer peripheral wall of said innercylinder, said outer peripheral wall being provided with a water pocket,said water pocket comprising a narrow gap formed between said outerperipheral wall and an inner surface of said filter, said external spacebeing filled with activated carbon and said internal space being loadedwith separation and filtration membranes, whereby water flowed into saidexternal space through said inlet port passes through said activatedcarbon, then via said water channel into said internal space wherein itis purified by said separation and filtration membranes, and thendischarged through said outlet port.
 2. A water purifying apparatuscomprising a block base having a raw water supplying portion and apurified water outlet portion, a water purifying cartridge removablymounted on said block base, and a hot water prevention means mechanismfor automatically preventing the inflow of hot water having atemperature higher than 60° C. into said water purifying cartridge, saidhot water prevention means being located in a raw water supplyingpassage to said block base.
 3. A water purifying apparatus as claimed inclaim 2, wherein said hot water prevention means is disposed to anarm-like water inlet member connected with said block base at said rawwater pipe supplying portion and having a service water pipe connectorportion, said water inlet member including a passage for supplyingservice water to said raw water supplying portion and a raw water outletportion, said passage and raw water outlet portion being incommunication with said service water pipe connector portion, a switchvalve disposed between said passage and said service water pipeconnector for directing a stream from the service water pipe connectorto either said passage or to said raw water outlet portion.
 4. A waterpurifying apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein said water purifyingcartridge includes a double structure container having an outercontainer and an inner cylinder disposed within said outer container, aninlet port for flowing water into an external space defined by saidouter container and said inner cylinder, and an outlet port fordischarging water from said internal space formed within said innercylinder, said external space and said internal space being incommunication with each other via a water channel formed in said innercylinder and separated through a filter, said external space beingfilled with activated carbon and said internal space being loaded withseparation and filtration membranes,whereby water flowed into saidexternal space from said raw water supplying portion via said inlet portpasses through said activated carbon, then via said water channel intosaid internal space wherein it is purified by said separation andfiltration membranes, and then discharged from said purified wateroutlet portion via said outlet port.
 5. A water purifying apparatus asclaimed in claim 2, wherein said hot water prevention means comprises avalve body and a shape memory alloy for driving said valve body, saidshape memory alloy being located downstream from said valve body.
 6. Awater purifying apparatus as claimed in claim 5, wherein said hot waterprevention means is disposed to an arm-like water inlet member connectedwith said block base at said raw water pipe supplying portion and havinga service water pipe connector portion, said water inlet memberincluding a passage for supplying service water to said raw watersupplying portion and a raw water outlet portion, said passage and rawwater outlet portion being in communication with said service water pipeconnector portion, a switch valve disposed between said passage and saidservice water pipe connector for directing a stream from the servicewater pipe connector to either said passage or to said raw water outletportion.